Orion woke up to warmth. A familiar warmth which he so much missed when he was in the Konosuba world. In a way he hadn't experienced this warmth too many times, less than a week. But, however small a time it was, it had utterly spoiled him.
He opened one eye slowly.
On his right, Hestia was curled against him, arms wrapped around his waist, cheek pressed to his shoulder. On his left, Marika rested calmly, one hand placed over his chest, her breathing soft and steady, hitting right at his neck.
He stared at the wooden ceiling. And then his bed of wood.
"If anyone walked in right now," he muttered quietly, "this would look very wrong."
Thankfully, both goddesses were fully dressed. Though a little slip-up at this moment would completely nullify that statement. Those loose clothes both of the goddesses wore weren't good at staying put at times like this, especially in bed. And the position was… questionable.
This had somehow become a habit. At some point, Orion had turned into their personal pillow. Did he mind?
Nah! He enjoyed it.
He tried to move. Hestia tightened her grip.
Marika did not move—but somehow felt heavier. Moving out of her grip was almost impossible by how strong the golden goddess was. She was a damn strong woman.
"…Why is escaping harder than fighting monsters?" he whispered, wiggling his way out somehow.
After several minutes of careful wiggling, sliding, and nearly falling off the bed, he finally freed himself.
"Good job me, neither have woken and I'm free, once again."
Standing up, he stretched and looked at them both still sleeping peacefully.
"I must have saved a kingdom in my past life," he muttered. "This luck is unreal."
He looked up, joined his hands together and said, "Thanks god, for today's fluff…"
Then he went downstairs and started cooking breakfast.
The smell of food eventually dragged both goddesses down.
Hestia immediately sat at the table, eyes sparkling. "Food!"
Marika sat more gracefully.
[You have improved.]
"High praise," Orion said dryly.
Hestia took a bite and sighed happily. "You should just stay home and cook forever."
"Hard pass."
As they ate, Hestia's expression shifted slightly.
"Orion," she said more seriously. "About yesterday."
He looked up.
"You need to be careful of Loki."
Marika's eyes lifted as well.
"Petty rivalry aside," Hestia continued, pointing her fork for emphasis, "Loki Familia is strong. If they find out you leveled up this fast—under a week—they might target you. Recruit you. Pressure you. Investigate you."
Orion frowned. "How would they even know?"
He recalled correctly that Eina told him that every level up is announced in the guild hall for everyone to know, but only once they were announced by the familia or the adventurer. Technically once Eina knew he leveled up, she was supposed to announce it in the guild. But she didn't. For him she pretended she never learned it. This gave him some time to adjust before others knew he leveled up.
So the question still stands, how would they know?
Marika frowned at this.
[The Guild keeps records.]
Orion leaned back. "Some familia, especially like Loki Familia or Freya Familia, should have enough influence to get private intel, right?"
Hestia shook her head firmly. "No."
But then she looked a bit awkward. "I mean it's possible that those big familias get secret access to this kind of knowledge from the guild hall. But what I mean is not that…"
She raised one finger dramatically.
"THE DENATUS."
Orion blinked. And then blinked once again, then his eyes widened. He almost forgot that there was that as well.
[…Ah] Marika said softly. She too had heard people here talking about that. In her free time she had made sure to learn as much about this world as possible.
Orion nearly dropped his cup. 'Motherf*ker… I completely forgot about that…'
Hestia leaned forward, ignoring the fallen cup. "All the gods gather in the Denatus. New members are announced. Level ups are announced. And rookies get their titles."
Orion's lips pursed tighter at hearing that last line. "Titles!"
He clearly remembered those damn gods liked playing with rookie adventurers, giving them embarrassing titles.
Hestia grinned wickedly. "Oh yes. And you don't get to choose."
Marika folded her hands calmly.
[Only gods attend you say… Then I must attend as well.]
"Can't we just not go?" Orion asked hesitantly. He'd rather not deal with this entire nonsense if possible.
Hestia blinked. "Of course not. You're his goddess. You must attend."
Marika didn't reply anything, but her unwavering look told enough. There was no changing her mind now.
Orion pointed between them. "So, do we have to announce my level up? Can't we skip that?"
Hestia at this looked uncertain. "I'm not aware of what laws are there, I shall ask Hephaestus later on and you know."
Orion sighed at this. "Do we must go…?"
"Yes," both goddesses answered together.
He slumped back in his chair. "Great. There goes my plan of secretly being overpowered."
[You have quite an overactive imagination my Tarnished.]
Hestia nodded cheerfully. "Correct."
Marika smiled and then finally said, "Anyways, this gathering will reveal much. It is… unavoidable." And then she placed a calm hand on his shoulder.
Hestia clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh! I wonder what nickname they'll give you!"
"Of course you do, it's not you they are giving a silly title to, which is most likely gonna stick with me for a lifetime," Orion grumbled.
Marika's golden eyes softened slightly. [Worry not, I shall have nothing less than the most appropriate title for my Tarnished.]
Orion looked between them.
One excited.
One serene.
Both absolutely certain.
"Sigh… when is the Denatus?"
Both he and Marika looked at Hestia.
"Eh… I dunno!"
"… "
"Forget it, I'll figure it out." Orion grumbled once more and quickly stuffed food in his mouth. Ready to depart.
—-<>—-
The first place Orion intended to go to was the Blue Pharmacy in Orario, Miach Familia headquarters. To Naaza of all people. He had to give an appropriate review on the potions he bought from her after all.
Navigating the bustling and confusing streets and alleys of Orario, he finally arrived at the Blue Pharmacy.
*Ring…
The bell on the door rang as soon as it opened up and inside was Naaza, still making potions while tallying the month's expenses on the side. Her fluffy dog ears almost perked up considering there would be a new customer, but upon seeing Orion, her eyes narrowed.
"Welcome. How may I help you?"
Orion smiled back, the same kind of smile which said that neither was quite pleased upon seeing each other. "How about we start with this potion's shitty concentration which I bought from here not so long ago."
Naaza's eyes darted at the empty potion vials and then at Orion's face, trying to remain passive but internally agitated like a volcano ready to erupt.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Here at Blue Pharmacy, we only sell authentic drugs and potions. We have a long track record of…"
Naaza seemed to go into robotic nonsense of how authentic their business practices were. Orion mostly ignored all the bla..bla..bla and occasionally only hearing 'We would never sell counterfeit products…'
"Oh really, then you wouldn't mind if I were to test out this last potion I have of yours with someone more specialized in potions, let's say someone from Dian Cecht Pharmacy?" Orion took out another vial from his pocket. This was actually a similar-looking potion he had gotten from the Konosuba world. He had long exhausted all the potions he purchased from Naaza, but the girl didn't know that.
Naaza's eyes at that narrowed, the grimace on her face clearly evident.
"Sure go ahead, I wouldn't mind at all. However, you don't have any proof that that potion was sold by us," Naaza retorted with a shrug.
Orion knew this would happen. "True, but I don't have to tell them the potion was created by Miach Familia. I can simply state that someone was selling defective potions in their name. Sooner or later they will figure out who was responsible and do the rest themselves." Orion's mouth curled up to which Naaza's eyes widened.
She understood what the boy was playing at here. Instead of going after the Miach Familia himself, he planned to let Dian Cecht Familia handle this situation.
If God Dian Cecht were to learn someone was selling defective potions in their name, he sure would find out the source. With his reach, finding who made that potion wouldn't be impossible unless Naaza changed all their current potion formulae, which was simply impossible.
And if the news from Dian Cecht leaked out that Miach Familia made defective potions, the repercussions would be immense.
"Th-that's a clear lie. You wouldn't dare lie to a god," Naaza countered.
"So would you, Ms. Naaza," Orion smirked.
And that was when Naaza realized his real plan. The brat intended to drag her in front of a neutral god and let the truth out by her own mind. It was widely known that mortals can't lie in front of gods, gods can see the lies.
If this case were to drag her out in front of a god, let's say someone like Ganesha seeing they handle the city's laws and securities, or perhaps someone associated with the guild, she would one hundred percent be exposed. Naaza gritted her teeth with irritation.
Both kept staring at each other, neither backing down.
The stare down seemed to last for a while until Naaza had to sigh and ultimately avert her eyes in defeat.
"Just say what you want to keep your mouth shut."
xXx
A/N : Yo, things are going fine yeah… tell me if you things I can improve somewhere. As you already have seen Orion no longer is that much flustered from girls and is getting better. As for more improvement in his character, remember its been only a week since he arrived in Orario. He did spend 2 months in Konosuba as well.
Anyways, hope you guys liking the story so far. As for if you find any mistakes, tell me. I'll fix it asap.
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